1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera with a face detection function for facilitating exposure compensation while photographing an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional cameras often estimate a position of a person using a somewhat inaccurate guess of framing or automatic focus information when photographing or capturing an image of a person. Furthermore, such convention cameras correct a brightness level of an entire image to achieve an appropriate brightness level of an image of a person. Also, conventional cameras may detect a region of skin colour of a person and control the colour of the region of skin colour of that person to be as close to a predetermined skin colour of a person as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-176028. In other ways, a conventional camera detects a facial region as a target using a face detection function, and controls light intensity of a flash, exposure, and white balance using the density or colour balance of the detected facial region as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 2001-222048, 2005-184508, 2003-189325, 2003-107555, 2005-086682, 2005-027277 and 2003-107567.
Also, according to white balance control under a tungsten light source, white balance is controlled by convention cameras such that some reddish colour remains in order to reproduce colour as close to how a photographer recollects the colours of a desired image as being.
However, when the exposure and/or light intensity of a flash is controlled with excessive weight on a facial region or a skin region of a human subject, a background of the human subject being photographed may appear as a white colour, or flare may occur over an entire image being photographed. When white balance control is performed such that a reddish colour remains under a tungsten light source, white clothes such as a wedding dress may take on a reddish colour, and a white colour may more noticeable as compared to other colours so that a photographer feels that a photographed image is different from an image according to his or her recollection. Also, since exposure controls and white balance controls may be quite different between subsequent photographed images where a face is successfully detected in a first image and where a face is not successfully detected in a next image, for example, during a continuous shooting mode, the exposures or colours may become unstable between images such that proper photographed images cannot be obtained.